On June 1, Finland-headquartered stainless steel producer Outokumpu announced that it has opened a new service center in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China, which has an annual capacity of some 30,000 metric tons of stainless steel. The investment in question amounted to €20 million.
Processing facilities of the service center include a cut-to-length line, a water-jet cutting machine, a plasma portal cutting machine and a laser cutting machine.
Commenting on the opening of the new service center, CEO Juha Rantanen said, "This is an important step in strengthening our position in Asia. As we are now closer to our Chinese customers, we can provide both tailored deliveries and local support in material selection and technical specification. As the global leader in duplex grades, Outokumpu now has a good platform for future growth in China."
Outokumpu has had a presence in China since 1997 and has delivered stainless steel for use in chemical, petrochemical and nuclear power plant facilities as well as chemical tankers and paper mills. Most of the stainless steel processed at the Kunshan service centre is produced at the group's Avesta and Degerfors sites in Sweden.